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English describes landforms that rise above the surrounding land as "mountains" or "hills." What words in Spanish describe a mountain or a hill? What are the differences between them (i.e. what size mountain gets classified as which word)?

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I'm closing this question as it appears to be asking for simple dictionary translations. If the true question is more subtle (perhaps "how big is a 'cerro' before it becomes a 'montaña'?"), please clarify and flag for moderator attention to have it re-opened.
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Flimzy♦Jan 24 '12 at 1:37

I would suggest making the question more specific then; rather than asking for a list of words, and their relative sizes, ask for a comparison/contrast of two specific words (assuming a standard dictionary definition of those words doesn't give you a reasonable answer).
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Flimzy♦Jan 24 '12 at 4:09

@Flimzy: I think that might make the existing answers seem out of place. I'll leave it closed for now.
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jrdiokoJan 24 '12 at 4:39

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I think this is a perfectly good question. The easiest way to make improve it against the complaint it was closed over is to explicitly include the list of words in the question.
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hippietrailJan 24 '12 at 10:37

2 Answers
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These are all words that you can use for mountains. Some have slightly different uses than others. The distinction between a hill and a mountain I would say is the same as English (correct me if I'm wrong)

I'd say sierra is a series of mountains, usually linear, that is part of a cordillera. For example, the Cordillera Penibética in Spain comprises several "sierras". In fact, the definition of sierra is "parte de una cordillera" or "cordillera de montes o peñascos cortados".
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MikMikJan 24 '12 at 11:43

I would add colina, which is also hill. However, RAE points a slight difference between cerro and colina. They are the same (elevación natural de terreno, menor que una montaña) but for cerro they add "aislada".
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MikMikJan 24 '12 at 11:48

There are lots of terms, with varying and imprecise meanings. From bigger to smaller:

montaña (mountain)

cerro

monte

colina (hill)

loma

and there are others (collado, otero, sierra...)
The ordering is debatable (specially between cerro-monte, and colina-loma). "Colina" usually also implies green pastures. And, confusingly, "monte" also means a small forest (this meaning is slightly more usual in Argentina).

For the longest time I only knew loma (learned Spanish in Mexico) and only later did I come across cerro and I have also wondered what the difference is. Even later I came across colina and thought I looked up that its meaning is more like hillside...
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hippietrailJan 24 '12 at 10:36